Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Roy Keane "killed" Juan Sebastian Veron's career at the club as he was a more dominant personality than the Argentine.
Veron arrived at Old Trafford for an English-record £28.1m fee in 2001 and brought with him a big reputation, but he left United for Chelsea just two years later in a deal worth just over half as much as the one which brought him to England.
Ferdinand played alongside the midfielder during the 2002-03 season and talked up Veron's quality, but believes that the presence of captain Keane ultimately proved to be too much to compete with.
"Veron, Sebastian Veron, scored one of the best goals I've ever seen in training. The little rabona thing, bang from the halfway line, the whole training session shut down, stopped: 'Did you just see that, what Juan Sebastian's just done there?'" Ferdinand said during a Q&A on Instagram.
"He was an unbelievable player, great passer. The only thing I think that killed him was Roy Keane was probably a bit more of a dominant personality and was picking the ball up in his positions. You have to remember Veron came from Lazio, Parma where he was the main man, the whole game went through him. He came to United, that's what Roy Keane did.
"Keane came and got it off the defenders, passed it through to the midfielders and attackers, and got in positions and was very vocal, like 'Yeah, give me the ball! Give me the ball!' And out of respect probably Seba just said, 'I'll let Roy keep doing that'.
"But Seba was an amazing talent. I honestly think without Roy Keane there he might have flourished in a Man United shirt. I think Roy Keane was his problem. And it wasn't Roy Keane's fault, it's just that his personality was bigger and more overpowering."
Veron made 82 appearances for United in total, scoring 11 goals in that time.
Barney Corkhill
